Bone fractures can be healed using plating systems. During treatment, one or more screws are placed on either side of a fracture, thereby causing compression and healing of the fracture. There is a need for improved plating systems as well as mechanisms for accurate use of the plating systems.
Additionally, modern improvements in the treatment of bone deformities and comminuted traumatic fractures called for the establishment of “normal” mechanical axes of the human skeleton. Multiple authors published results of their anatomic studies with a variety of nomenclatures. Eventually, nomenclature was standardized and nominal and extreme values for “normal” mechanical and anatomic axes were settled on. These established angles are used now by medical professionals, such as orthopedic surgeons, around the world as a reference for correcting deformity and restoring normal joint alignment post-trauma. While some existing software packages aid with this correction in the evaluation of x-rays, there are no currently available devices for use under fluoroscopy in the operating room.